diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 5bc23cd..98390b6 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.3.23
+1.3.24
diff --git a/bootstrap/app.php b/bootstrap/app.php
index 5d5d787..175d502 100644
--- a/bootstrap/app.php
+++ b/bootstrap/app.php
@@ -21,6 +21,21 @@ return Application::configure(basePath: dirname(__DIR__))
         health: '/up',
     )
     ->withMiddleware(function (Middleware $middleware): void {
+        // The one endpoint that must answer WHILE the application is down.
+        //
+        // It is the deployment's own status, read by the overlay every three
+        // seconds. Behind maintenance mode it answered 503 for the whole run,
+        // so the overlay had nothing to show but "still waiting" and could not
+        // name the step it was on — and any Livewire request that fired in the
+        // same window swapped the console for Laravel's 503 page.
+        //
+        // Safe to exempt: it reports version, commit and a step name, it is
+        // behind the console's host and network guards, and it writes nothing.
+        $middleware->preventRequestsDuringMaintenance(except: [
+            'update/state',
+            '*/update/state',
+        ]);
+
         $middleware->alias([
             'admin' => EnsureAdmin::class,
             'admin.host' => RestrictAdminHost::class,
diff --git a/resources/js/app.js b/resources/js/app.js
index 033ee5b..5c7b2d5 100644
--- a/resources/js/app.js
+++ b/resources/js/app.js
@@ -134,6 +134,23 @@ function recoverFrom419() {
 document.addEventListener('livewire:init', () => {
     window.Livewire.hook('request', ({ fail }) => {
         fail(({ status, preventDefault }) => {
+            // 503: the application is in maintenance mode, which during a
+            // deployment is not a fault — it is the event being watched.
+            //
+            // Livewire's default is to replace the document with the response
+            // body, so a wire:poll that happened to fire mid-update swapped the
+            // console for Laravel's 503 page: the operator saw the overlay,
+            // then the error page, then the reload. Reported as "the 503 must
+            // not appear at all during the update", and it must not.
+            //
+            // Swallowed for every Livewire request, not just the poll: any
+            // action taken in that window would do the same thing.
+            if (status === 503) {
+                preventDefault();
+
+                return;
+            }
+
             if (status !== 419) return;
 
             preventDefault();
diff --git a/resources/views/livewire/admin/settings.blade.php b/resources/views/livewire/admin/settings.blade.php
index f4229f1..df1c13d 100644
--- a/resources/views/livewire/admin/settings.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/livewire/admin/settings.blade.php
@@ -34,8 +34,13 @@
                  open. wire:poll below is unrelated and stays: it is Livewire's
                  own refresh of this card's own details (log tail, elapsed time)
                  for as long as a Livewire connection exists. --}}
+            {{-- The poll stops while a run is in flight. The overlay's own
+                 watcher is what follows a deployment — a plain fetch with no
+                 component state behind it, which is why it survives the
+                 restart. This one cannot, and every attempt during maintenance
+                 mode was a Livewire request answering 503. --}}
             <div class="rounded-lg border border-line bg-surface p-6 shadow-xs animate-rise"
-                 wire:poll.{{ ($update['running'] || $update['checking']) ? '3s' : '30s' }}>
+                 @if (! $update['running']) wire:poll.{{ $update['checking'] ? '3s' : '30s' }} @endif>
                 <div class="flex flex-wrap items-start justify-between gap-4">
                     <div class="min-w-0">
                         <div class="flex flex-wrap items-center gap-2">
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Admin/UpdateButtonTest.php b/tests/Feature/Admin/UpdateButtonTest.php
index 3076494..69aa1d7 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Admin/UpdateButtonTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Admin/UpdateButtonTest.php
@@ -951,3 +951,29 @@ it('runs the workers as the same user as the web process', function () {
         "\nnormalise_ownership\n",
     ))->toBe(2);
 });
+
+it('keeps answering its own status while the application is down', function () {
+    // The deployment's status is the one thing that must be readable DURING
+    // the deployment. Behind maintenance mode it answered 503 for the whole
+    // run, so the overlay had nothing to show but "still waiting" and could
+    // never name the step it was on.
+    expect(Illuminate\Support\Facades\File::get(base_path('bootstrap/app.php')))
+        ->toContain("preventRequestsDuringMaintenance(except: [")
+        ->toContain("'update/state'")
+        ->toContain("'*/update/state'");
+});
+
+it('does not let a Livewire request during maintenance replace the page', function () {
+    // Reported with the network panel open: `update` and `state` both 503, and
+    // Livewire's default on a failed request is to render the response body —
+    // so a wire:poll that happened to fire mid-deployment swapped the console
+    // for Laravel's 503 page. Overlay, then error page, then reload.
+    //
+    // 503 is not a fault here. It IS the event being watched.
+    $app = Illuminate\Support\Facades\File::get(resource_path('js/app.js'));
+
+    expect($app)->toContain('if (status === 503) {')
+        // And the poll that used to fire it stops for the duration.
+        ->and(Illuminate\Support\Facades\File::get(resource_path('views/livewire/admin/settings.blade.php')))
+        ->toContain("@if (! \$update['running']) wire:poll");
+});